Form finisher and means for controlling flow of processing fluids therefor



July 25, 1967 B. G. BLEVENS 3,332,589

FORM FINISHER AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING FLOW OF PROCESSING FLUIDS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 17, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet l f 93 {WU 9 5 is .r INVENTOR BERTRAM e. BLEVENS ATTORNEY y 5, 1967 a. s. BLEVENS 3,332,589

FORM FINISHER AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING FLOW OF PROCESSING FLUIDS THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed Feb. 17, 1966 INVENTOR BERTRAM G. BLEV ENS ATTORNEY July 25, 1967 B. G. BLEVENS 3,332,589

' FORM FINISHER AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING FLOW OF PROCESSING FLUIDS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 17, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet J5 INVENTOR BERTRAM G. BLE'VENS BY law/ML ATTORNEY United States Patent FORM FINISHER AND MEANS FOR CON- TROLLING FLOW OF PROCESSING FLUIDS THEREFOR Bertram G. Blevens, Louisville, Ky., assignor to W. M.

Cissell Manufacturing Company, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Feb. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 528,174 9 Claims. (Cl. 223-67) This invention relates to form finishers of the type having a distendable fluid-pervious bag into which air and steam are selectively supplied in accordance with the requirements for the particular garment being processed on the bag. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus having its elements so coordinated as to function, construction and location as to permit rapid inflation or deflation of the bag. Moreover, the invention by reason of certain automatic control features together with overriding manually operable features is directed toward the producing of a machine on which a wide variety of types of garments can be handled in an efficient manner.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved finisher in which the bag is deflated rapidly at the conclusion of the processing.

Another object is to provide an improved finisher having means for selectively supplying timed steam and air simultaneously, or independently, to the bag and with the air being at any selected pressure hanging up to full air pressure.

Another object is to provide an improved damper arrangement for controlling the supply and the venting of air to and from the finisher bag.

A further object is to provide a simplified electromechanical means for controlling the operation of a form finisher damper.

Still a further object is to provide an improved form finisher for furnishing air under pressure to the bag independently of timed control of the air supply.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparentas the description proceeds and when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, of the form finisher and showing the bag in fully inflated condition.

- FIG. 2 is a side elevation view showing the finisher with the rotatable frame removed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic wiring diagram for the electrical circuit.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view in perspective of the mechanism for controlling the setting of the main damper shaft.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view longitudinally of the duct showing the damper positioning during venting of the form finisher bag, and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view longitudinally of the duct showing the damper positioning during supply of air under pressure to the form finisher bag.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the present invention, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, is particularly well suited for use with a form finisher structure of the type more fully disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 485,338 filed September 7, 1965 and with which a bag of the type more fully disclosed in the copending application of Bertram G. Blevens and Frank H. Richterkessing, Ser. No. 518,623 filed Jan. 4, 1966; is to be employed; both of which applications are assigned to the same assignee as the present application. Such apparatus includes a stationary housing 10 mounting a blower 11 driven by a motor 12 which may be controlled in the manner later to appear. Air is forced under pressure from the blower into a rectangular shaped duct leading Patented July 25, 1967 into a stationary base assembly having an annular wall 13 with an upwardly directed opening communicating with the interior of the bag. A conventional steam coil (not shown), and which may be of the type disclosed in Richterkessing Patent No. 3,006,516, is disposed in the base assembly for heating air and is connected to a steam inlet line 14 and to a steam return line 15. The return line is connected to the base of a hollow steam column 16 projecting upwardly from the base assembly and which is adapted to detachably support on its upper end, by means of a suitable bearing 17, the rotatable frame of the form finisher as more fully disclosed in said application, Ser. No. 485,338. Such frame includes at its lower end an annular wall 18 to which is rigidly attached a front upright frame member 19 and a rear upright frame member 20 and with these members being rigidly joined at their upper ends by a neck and shoulder element 21. An apertured bottom plate 22 surrounding the steam column provides a mounting for a laterally projecting housing 23 in which controls for adjusting the size of the bag are disposed. A laterally projecting handle 24 for conveniently rotating the frame upon the stationary base assembly, likewise is mounted upon the plate 22.

A fluid-previous, flexible, distendable bag of the type more fully enclosed in said application, Ser. No. 518,623 is suitably mounted upon the frame in enveloping relation thereto and comprises a bodice portion 30 joined at its lower end by a bridging portion 31 to a relatively large diameter, elongated, skirt portion 32. The lower portion 33 of the skirt is attached to the wall 18 by means of a suitable bag-fastening string and an annular weighted member (not shown) disposed within the bag serves to store excess bag material alongside wall 18 and to aid in rapid collapsing of the bag, when suitably adjusted as disclosed in said application, Ser. No. 485,338.

Considering now the regulated supply of steam and air into the bag, and which forms an important feature of the present invention, reference is made first to FIGS. 1 to 4 and to the electro-mechanical means for eflecting the same. .Disposed within a casing having a removable cover 40 and mounted upon one wall 41 of the air supply duct is a rigidly mounted coil 42 of a steam control solenoid having an armature attached to a rod 43 which is pivotally connected to arm 44. This arm in turn is rigidly attached to a bell crank shaft extending through wall 13, and attached to one arm of the bell crank is a vertically disposed rod 45 which when moved in one direction opens a spring-loaded steam valve 46 through which steam is vented from column 16, and when moved in the other direction allows that valve to close. Also mounted upon wall 41 is an air control solenoid having a rigidly mounted coil 47 and an armature rod 48 pivotally attached to an arm 49 which at its upper end is rigidly mounted upon a bushing 50 rotatably surrounding an air damper shaft 69.

Projecting laterally from arm 49 in the direction of wall 41 is a pin 51 and at the lower end of arm 49 a tension spring 52 is attached, the other end of this spring being attached to a fixed structure such as one wall 53 of the casing. Mounted alongside the arm 49 and movable in a plane intersecting the pin 51 is a bell crank which is rigidly attached to the shaft 69 as by means of a'set screw 54. One arm 55 of this 'bell crank extends toward wall 53 and has attached to that arm a tension spring 56 the other end of which is attached to pin 51. The second arm 57 of the bell crank is adapted to abut normally against pin 51 under the influence of spring 56. Projecting laterally from bell crank arm 57 in the direction of wall 41 is a pin 58.

Attached to a bushing 60 rotatably mounted on shaft 69 is a damper-regulating arm 61 mounted alongside the bell crank arm 57 and movable in a plane intersecting pin 58. Projecting laterally from arm 61 in the direction of wall 41 is a projection 62 providing an anchor for one end of a flexible wire 63 by means of which the damper regulating arm may be selectively adjusted. As will be understood, the described mechanism is compactly arranged alongside wall 41 and is below the plane of travel of the rotatable frame of the form finisher.

As shown in FIG. 2 the wire 63 extends into a guide tube 64 on the exterior of housing 10 and thence to a inanually adjustable handle 65 located at a convenient height for manipulation by the operator. The wire, moreover, has 'sufiicient rigidity so that when handle 65 is pushed to a position providing for a fully opened damper, and corresponding to the full counter-clockwise movement of arm 61 in FIG. 4, the arm is moved out of contact with pin 58 regardless of the position then being occupied by the remaining portions of the mechanisms. When, however, the handle 65 is moved to a position providing for less than a fully opened damper, the wire 63 pulls arm 61 into a location where it will engage pin 58 as the solenoid coil 47 is energized.

Referring now to FIGS. and 6 the air supply duct includes an imperforate floor portion 65, a side wall 66 parallel to'side wall 41, and a top 67 having a generally rectangular aperture 68 therein. Shaft 69 is journalled in side walls 41 and 66 for oscillation about a fixed axis and rigidly attached to the shaft 69 is a main damper having an imperfor'ate upper portion 70 and a lower imp'erforate portion 71. Seals (not shown) are carried by the lateral edges of the main damper and engage with the side walls of the duct. A transverse seal 72 projecting inwardly from top 67 and a similar seal 73 projecting' inwardly from floor 65 are engaged by the main damper in its fully closed position.

As a feature of the invention, a supplementary damper 75 is pivotally mounted upon the top 67 of the duct in any suitable manner so as to close the aperture 68 while air under pressure from the blower is being supplied to the bag, and to open that aperture when air under pressure is not being so supplied. Preferably, the edge 76 of the damper 75 opposite its pivoted edge rests upon the lower portion 71 of the main damper when the main damper is closed. Accordingly, a portion of the weight of the supplementary damper, plus the pressure of air against the upper portion 70 of the main damper, plus 'the tension of spring 52 acts to hold the main damper closed when the air solenoid 47 is de-energized, even though the blower is then operating.

With the foregoing in mind, the operation of the apparatus during the finishing of a typical garment placed upon the bag may best be followed by reference to a preferred electrical circuit employed with the invention and as schematically shown in FIG. 3. Upon closing a main on=ott switch 80 conveniently located on the control panel 79 supported by housing 10, a circuit is made from line 81 through the closed switch 80, conductor 82, 'blower motor 12, and return line 83. Air under pressure then fills the duct, but if the main damper is set for closed position, the bag at this time does not receive air under pressure. Mounted upon the panel 79 is a conventional steam timer having a motor 90 and a conventional air timer having a motor 103, and which may comprise the type 310 timers available from Cramer Controls Corporation, Centerbrook, Connecticut. Assuming that a steaming operation is desired without simultaneous supply of air under pressure to the garment, the operator sets the steam timer and turns the sequence selector to its position which opens contact 113 as seen in FIG. 3. The operator then momentarily presses the start switch 86 which conveniently is located at the top of an arm 87 rotatably mounted on the top of housing for accessibility to diiferent positions at which the operator may be standing. As switch 86 temporarily closes, a circuit is made through conductor 88, closed switch 86, conductor 89, and the steam timer motor 90. Energization of the relay coil 84 through conductors 96 and 115 also causes the normally open contacts 91, and 91A of the steam relay SR to close. The blade 93 of the double-throw steam timer switch is now closed on its terminals. A running circuit, which then is maintained until the timer motor runs its course, will be established through conductor 95, closed timer switch 93, closed contacts 91, conductor 96, conductor 89 and motor 90. Simultaneously, a circuit is made through conductor 97 and steam solenoid coil 42.

When solenoid 42 is energized the armature rod 43 (FIG. 2) actuates arm 44 which moves rod 45 to open valve 46 and to release steam from column 16. When the allotted time for steaming expires, the steam timer switch automatically moves its blade 94 temporarily to closed position upon its terminal and moves blade 93 to open position. At this time a starting circuit is made through conductor 100, closed switch blade 94, conductor 101, the normally closed air timer switch blade 102, and air relay coil 85, whereupon the air timer motor 103 is actuated and will run for its allotted time until switch blade 102 is moved temporarily to open position. Under the arrangement as thus described, it will be understood that air is intended to follow the supply of steam rather than to be supplied simultaneously and that when the air timer begins to operate the steam timer becomes inoperative. I

Energiza-tion of the air relay 85 causes the normally open contacts 104 and 104A of air relay AR to close whereupon a running circuit is made through conductor 105, closed contacts 104, conductor 106, conductor 107, and motor 103. Simultaneously, a second circuit is made through conductor 108, closed contacts 104A, closed air selector switch 109, and air solenoidcoil 47. The manually operable air selector switch 109, which conveniently is mounted adjacent the start switch 86, is adapted to be closed either upon the terminal or the terminal 111 and for a purpose later to appear. As the air solenoid 47 is thus energized the flow of air to the bag is con trolled in dependence upon the setting of the dampers and as now to be described.

Assuming that air under full pressure is desired, the

operator first moves handle 65 to full position and in so doing, the arm 61 (FIG. 4) is fully withdrawn from the path of movement of the pin 58. Energization of coil 47 then causes armature rod 48 to be drawn fully into coil 47 and causes arm 49 to pivot toward that coil. In so doing the pin 51 on arm 49 moves toward that coil and through the action of Spring 56 causes the bell crank to turn, whereupon the shaft 69 is rotated and the main damper is opened. This movement, of course, builds up a -restoring force in spring 52. n As the main damper opens, air passes toward the bag both above and below the main damper and such air in passing above the main damper, lifts the supplementary damper 75 into its position (FIG. 6) in which the vent 68 is covered, and it will remain in this position until the timer 103 has run its allotted time. When this time expires, the timer switch 102 opens momentarily and the relay contacts 104 and 104A are opened thus de-energizing the timer motor 103 and the air solenoid 47. As this occurs, the main damper settles to its closed position (FIG. 5) and the supplementary damper 75 opens vent 68. The bag with the processed garment thereon then is free to collapse quickly by the automatic venting of its contained air backward to the vent 68 and without requiring the operator to take any action effecting such a collapsing.

When the air solenoid is tie-energized, spring 52 pivots arm 49 clockwise as seen in FIG. 4 and the pin 51 en-' gages the back edge of arm 57 of the bell crank thus to turn that bell crank and the attached damper shaft '69 in a clockwise direction. Pin 58 which is disposed on the side of arm 61 nearer the wall 53 will of course, not in terfere with such movement,

As will be understood, the pressure of the air supplied to the bag is dependent upon the throttling action effected by the position of the main damper. Assuming that a garment of relatively fragile material is being processed and with which a reduced air pressure is required in the bag, the operator then sets handle 65 at an intermediateposition whereupon the arm 61 will occupy a location in the path of pin 58. When the air solenoid 47 is then energized, it again will cause arm 49 to turn counterclockwise (FIG. 4) and to place spring 56 under tension, The bell crank also turns counter-clockwise but its pin 58 will engage the forward edge of the arm 61 which has been set for a partial opening of the main damper. When, therefore, the pin 58 engages arm 61 continued movement of the armature rod 48 into coil 47 merely stretches spring 56 without causing any further turning of damper shaft 69. The partial opening of the main damper, however, is sufficient to pass air above the upper section 70, thereof, and to lift supplementary damper 75 into its vent closing position.

Under certain circumstances the operator may desire to furnish air to the bag without employing a timed cycle of air or of steam. The invention provides for this usage by incorporating the manually operable air selector switch 109 which when moved to its terminal 111 and with the main on-ofi switch 80 being closed will furnish a circuit through conductor 112, terminal 111, switch 109 and air solenoid 47.

In addition, a manually operable sequence switch or selector 113 is provided for usage when air is to be supplied simultaneously with the beginning of the steam supply and in this situation after closing switch 113 and pressing the switch 86, a supplementary circuit is made through conductor 114, closed switch 113, the closed contacts 91A of the steam relay SR, conductor 107, and motor 103 of the air timer. Energization of the air relay 85 at this time also closes the contacts 104A of the air timer relay AR, to energize the air solenoid 47, and closes contacts 104 to establish the holding circuit.

Furthermore, the conventional steam timer switch with its two blades 93, 94 may normally be set for timed air supply without a preceding timed steam supply. In this situation the operator merely moves the steam timer switch to cause its blade 94 to close temporarily on its terminals and the companion blade 93 to open. Thereafter, a circuit is made from conductor 100, closed switch 94, conductor 101, closed switch 102, and air relay 85. When the contacts 104 and 104A of the air timer relay then close, the running circuit to the motor 103 and the circuit to energize solenoid coil 47 are established as above described, and will be maintained until the air timer has run its allotted cycle.

In contract with conventional apparatus in which the blower motor must be repeatedly started and stopped, or in which a main damper is opened by air pressure from the blower, the present invention permits the main damper to open only when the air solenoid coil is energized and employs a constantly available source of air under pressure in the duct after the main on-off switch is closed. The arrangement of the two dampers is such that the functioning of the supplementary damper is dependent upon the prior selected setting of the main damper. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, means thus is placed at the disposal of the operator to enable him to process garments under a wide variety of conditions.

Having thus described the invention and its attendant advantages it is intended that the appended claims are 0 cover such changes and modifications of the described structure as come within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A form finisher comprising, a frame supporting a distendable, fluid-pervious flexible bag thereon, a duct communicating with the interior of said bag for supplying air under pressure thereto and for venting air therefrom, a blower for supplying air under pressure to said duct, means for driving said blower; a damper assemblypositioned in said duct and comprising a main damper movable between a closed position interrupting the supply of air under pressure into said bag and an open position for supplying air under pressure to said bag, and a supplementary damper movable, in dependence upon the setting of the main damper, between a first position venting the interior of said bag to the atmosphere exteriorly of said duct and a second position closing communication between said bag and the exterior of said duct; and means for selectively moving said main damper from said closed position to said open position.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said supplementary damper occupies its first position when said main damper occupies its closed position and said supplementary damper occupies its second position when said main damper occupies its open position.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said main damper from its closed to open position includes a solenoid actuated mechanical linkage.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said supplementary damper is moved from its first to its second positions by the pressure of air in said duct and from its second to its first position by the movement of said main damper to its closed position.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said main damper is biased to normally closed position against the pressure of air in said duct.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 including means for adjusting the extent of opening of said main damper when occupying in its open position.

7. A form finisher comprising, a frame supporting a distendable, fiuid-pervious, flexible bag thereon, a duct communicating with the interior of said bag for supplyin-g air under pressure thereinto and for venting air therefrom, a blower for supplying air under pressure to said duct, means for driving said blower, means for supplying steam to the interior of said bag, a first timer-controlled means for actuating said steam-supplying means for a predetermined length of time; a damper assembly positioned in said duct and comprising a main damper movable between a closed position interrupting the supply of air under pressure to said bag and an open position for supplying air pressure to said bag, and a supplementary damper movable in dependence upon the setting of said main damper between a first position venting the interior of said bag to the atmosphere when said damper occupies its closed position and a second position closing communication between the interior of said bag and the atmosphere when said main damper occupies its open position; and electromechanical means for moving said main damper from said closed position to said open position, said electro-mechanical means including a second timer controlled means for holding said main damper in said open position for a predetermined length of time.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 including means for actuating said electro-mechanical means independently of actuation of said first and second timer-controlled means thereby to supply air under pressure to said bag apart from usage of steam or limitation of time.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 including means for actuating said electro-mechanical means simultaneously with energization of both of said first and second timercontrolled means, thereby to supply air under pressure to said bag simultaneously with supply of steam to said bag.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,533,761 12/ 1950 Brenner et al 223-'70 2,736,472 2/ 1956 Jackson 223-67 3,006,516 10/ 1961 Richterkessing 22370 J-ORDAN, FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FORM FINISHED COMPRISING, A FRAME SUPPORTING A DISTENDABLE, FLUID-PERVIOUS FLEXIBLE BAG THEREON, A DUCT COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID BAG FOR SUPPLYING AIR UNDER PRESSURE THERETO AND FOR VENTING AIR THEREFROM, A BLOWER FOR SUPPLYING AIR UNDER PRESSURE TO SAID DUCT, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID BLOWER; A DAMPER ASSEMBLY POSITIONED IN SAID DUCT AND COMPRISING A MAIN DAMPER MOVABLE BETWEEN A CLOSED POSITION INTERRUPTING THE SUPPLY OF AIR UNDER PRESSURE INTO SAID BAG AND AN OPEN POSITION FOR SUPPLYING AIR UNDER PRESSURE TO SAID BAG, AND A SUPPLEMENTARY DAMPER MOVABLE, IN DEPENDENCE UPON THE SETTING OF THE MAIN DAMPER, BETWEEN A FIRST POSITION VENTING THE INTERIOR OF SAID BAG TO THE ATMOSPHERE EXTERIORLY OF SAID DUCT AND A SECOND POSITION CLOSING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID BAG AND THE EXTERIOR OF SAID DUCT; AND MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY MOVING SAID MAIN DAMPER FROM SAID CLOSED POSITION TO SAID OPEN POSITION. 